Trump's teasing is the price Paxton had to pay to use Republican midterm
convention to raise money
[September 12, 2026]
By THOMAS BEAUMONT
DALLAS (AP) — President Donald Trump said he wasn’t going to say it —
and then he said it anyway. For the second night in a row at the
Republicans’ midterm convention, he mocked Ken Paxton on stage.
“I don’t really like the way he looks,” Trump told the laughing crowd in
Paxton's home state of Texas. But never mind that because “he was our
greatest attorney general and he deserves to go to the United States
Senate.”
Paxton just grinned. After all, he needs the money. He’s locked in a
tight race with Democratic nominee James Talarico, and Trump helped turn
the convention stage into a national fundraiser for one of his party’s
most important yet outfunded candidates.
“I need your prayers, your votes and your support,” Paxton said during
his turn at the microphone.
The money has started to flow to him with two months to go. MAGA Inc.,
Trump's super PAC, announced last week it would spend $10 million.
America PAC, which is connected to Elon Musk, has spent $250,000. The
Senate Leadership Fund on Friday contributed about $43 million.
Paxton is perhaps Trump’s biggest political test this year. The
president endorsed Paxton on the eve of his defeat of four-term
incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the May primary runoff, over the
objections of Republican leaders including Thune, who viewed Cornyn as a
far stronger candidate than the state’s scandal-plagued attorney
general.
If Paxton wins, it will be hailed as proof of Trump’s political
instincts and his ability to mold the Republican Party in his image. If
he loses, it would be the first time that Texas has sent a Democrat to
the Senate since 1988, and Trump could be blamed for doing too little,
too late.
With so much riding on the race, the teasing from Trump seems to be a
small price to pay for Paxton, who is enduring quite a lot of mockery.
Trump started it last week in the Oval Office, when he said “some people
don’t like the way he dresses, or some people don’t like the way he
interviews or talks.”
Later that night in the Rose Garden, it became clear that by “some
people,” Trump meant himself.
“It’s so insulting to him, but I might as well say it. You might not
love his look. You might not love his television interviews,” Trump
said. But he added that Paxton's record as attorney general “speaks a
lot louder than the suit he’s wearing that doesn’t look so great.”
Paxton is not the kind of camera-ready, high-energy political performer
that Trump usually prefers. A bit rumpled, he speaks softly, even in
front of thousands. But he’s distinguished himself as a conservative
legal warrior, especially when he challenged President Joe Biden’s
Democratic policies in court.
He also shares Trump’s sense of political persecution.
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Attendees hold posters for Ken Paxton as they cheer while President
Donald Trump speaks at the Republican convention Wednesday, Sept. 9,
2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
“The press, the courts and the establishment all tried to take
President Trump down, but he’s won every single time,” Paxton told
the convention audience this week. “He’s delivered more for this
country than anyone before, secured victories for America that no
other president could, and always stood up for Texas.”
Paxton has been the target of investigations for years. He was
impeached by the Republican-led Texas House but acquitted by the
Senate. A federal corruption case was dropped without charges, and a
state probe into securities fraud allegations was settled. Paxton
has consistently denied wrongdoing.
But Paxton's victory is an important part of Republicans' efforts to
keep control of the Senate. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the Senate
majority leader who opposed Paxton's candidacy against Cornyn, held
a fundraiser with Paxton on Thursday morning, according to a
Republican operative with knowledge of the event but who was
unauthorized to discuss the event and spoke on condition of
anonymity.
When comparing candidates' campaign accounts, Talarico has an
overwhelming advantage, having raised $68 million to Paxton's $9
million. Under federal election rules, candidates get cheaper
advertising rates than independent organizations like super PACs.
Since the primary, Talarico and one smaller allied group have spent
$37.8 million on advertising, while four super PACs have carried
almost the entire load for Paxton, spending $24.4 million, according
to AdImpact.
While Senate Republican leaders complained loudly last year that
Paxton’s record of ethical and legal questions would require at
least $100 million more to carry him to victory, even in a
Republican-heavy state like Texas, they petitioned Trump and his
team to open up their coffers.
“There's no sense bubble wrapping it. We've got a race in Texas,”
Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, told Fox News last month.
He added that “money is an issue” and “we need help from the
president."
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